Standing Outside The Fire
“And you’re from…?” she asked.
“Near Kansas City,” he replied, amused that she was trying to keep the conversation off herself. “I’ll guess you work in television, in front of the cameras in some manner,” he continued.
“You think so? This salad is delicious.”
“Yes. If you were a singer or movie star or famous model, I’d recognize you. It must be television. You’re far too pretty to be stuck back behind stacks of ledgers figuring out payrolls.”
“That’s ridiculous! You think I can’t do that? You think there aren’t some pretty bookkeepers out there?” she asked, her eyebrows arching while she sounded mildly indignant.
“There may be gorgeous bookkeepers out there, and I’m sure you could do whatever you set your mind to—I’ve already glimpsed you taking charge—I just don’t think that’s what you do. I think you’re in television. An anchorwoman, weatherperson. You do some kind of show.”
“You’re not ever going to know,” she said softly, leaning toward him with a twinkle in her eyes. “I will win our bet.”
His pulse jumped again because she was giving him another challenge.
“We’ll see. In the meantime, let’s see what you will tell me about yourself. Brothers or sisters?”
“One sister who is divorced and lives in California and is a bookkeeper and is very pretty.”
He grinned. “Okay, I walked into that one, but I said that there could be pretty bookkeepers, I just don’t think you’re one. Will you tell me her name?”
“Mary. Plain and simple. She’s an older sister. You’re probably an only child or the only male with sisters.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You look like a man accustomed to getting his way from early childhood. And especially getting his way with females.”
“Why would you think I’d get my way with females in particular?” he persisted, enjoying flirting with her.
“You know full well the effect you have most of the time on females.”
“Most of the time—that means this isn’t one of them.”
She shrugged, but the sparkle was still in her eyes, and he suspected she was enjoying the flirting more than she was willing to admit. “It’s interesting to eat with you tonight, and I’ve had a long, tedious day,” she said.
“Interesting. On a score of one to ten, I’d say ‘interesting’ is a five.”
“Interesting is fun. And a five is good,” she replied.
“Dang!” he exclaimed, mildly annoyed. “‘Fun’ and ‘good’ are not how I want to be known. Those are two bland descriptions if I ever heard any! I’ll have to remedy the way the evening is going.” A roll of thunder gave them both pause, and she looked out the window.
“Look at the rain!” she exclaimed. For the first time she sounded sincerely upset, and a slight frown creased her forehead. As rain drummed against the windows and water streamed down the glass in rivulets, Boone glanced at the swimming pool. Glittering bubbles popped up where raindrops hit.
“Sorry,” he said. “You’ll get home tomorrow morning, I’m sure. This will clear off and move on.”
She bit her lower lip, and he stared, wanting to feel her full lips against his, wanting to kiss her. Her attention swung back to him and she blinked, and he guessed that briefly, she had forgotten him. Few times in his life had he had women forget, ignore or rebuff him, and the unique experience was both a challenge and exasperating.
The waiter brought their steaks and hot, baked potatoes sprinkled with chives. Then he uncorked a bottle of red wine that Boone had ordered to go with the steaks and filled new glasses.
As they cut into the juicy meat, thunder rattled the windows and another flash of lightning tore across the sky.
“We’re getting a deluge,” she said, sounding concerned.
“It’ll pass and we’re warm and cozy, enjoying delicious steaks and an unforgettable evening.”
“It’s going to be unforgettable, all right.”
He reached over to take her hand, and her eyes flew wide as she looked at him.
“You can’t do anything about the rain, and it will go away. No Noah’s Ark needed here. Enjoy your dinner and let go of the worries. Let’s have another toast.” He released her hand and picked up his wineglass. “Here’s to sunshine in the morning and excitement tonight.”
She picked up her wine to sip. “I think I’m getting woozy from the wine.”
“The steak dinner will take away the effects of the wine. Enjoy yourself and forget the cares of the day.”
“I will.” She took a bite of steak, closing her eyes as she chewed and he stared. She was one of the sexiest women he had ever known. He barely knew her—not even knowing her name, much less her phone number—and as far as she was concerned, she was going to walk out of his life and never see him again. He had no intention of letting that happen.
“This is the best steak I’ve had in a long time,” she said. “I was famished. We had peanuts on the plane, but that doesn’t do it when you’ve missed lunch, and breakfast was orange juice and coffee.”
Another clap of thunder shook the panes and lightning flashed, giving a silvery brightness to the world outside. In seconds another brilliant flash crackled and then a loud bang came from outside. Inside the restaurant, the lights flickered and went off.
“Oh, my!” she said.
“It may be temporary,” Boone stated, digging in his pocket and pulling out a small flashlight. At the same time, she removed a small flashlight from her purse and switched it on. They looked at each other and laughed as they placed the flashlights on the table.
“So we think alike on some things,” Boone said. “We each carry flashlights for emergencies.”
“Even if it’s as dark as a cave, I’m eating this steak,” she declared.
“So am I. Here comes our waiter.”
The waiter approached with a candle in a hurricane glass and Boone noticed that other waiters were bringing out candles.
“This is just a temporary power outage,” the waiter said as he moved glasses and set the candle in the center of the table. “A transformer has blown, and they hope to restore power soon. Can I get you anything else?”
“We’re fine,” Boone said, watching the white-coated man refill their wineglasses. If she was getting any kind of buzz from drinking her wine, it wasn’t apparent to him. She was as guarded about her personal life as she had been when they sat down.
He touched the flashlights. “You’re a practical person.”
“Where were we when the storm interrupted the conversation?” she asked, once again moving the conversation away from herself.
“You said you thought I was an only child or had sisters. You’re half-right,” he replied. “I have sisters and brothers. There were nine of us.”
“Wow! I’ll bet you’re the oldest.”
“That’s right and now I know better than to pursue why you think that,” he replied. “If I guess your first name, would you tell me if I’m right?”
“Of course not! We have a bet that I would tell you, not that you’d guess. Remember? I want my chocolate bar. I’ll take it up to my room and curl up in bed with it and read and listen to the rain,” she said, sipping her red wine.
“I can think of some other things that would be more exciting to curl up in bed with than a chocolate bar and a book.”
“I’m sure you can. You’re not a big reader, then.”
“I like to read. I just like other things to curl up in bed with.”
“So what do you like to read?”
He named his favorite authors, and she nodded about some. As conversation shifted to books, he discovered how she spent a chunk of her time.
“Here comes our waiter again,” she said.
“We expect to have electricity soon,” the white-coated man said when he paused at their table. He had a sack in his hand and produced a bottle of white wine. “Compliments of the house. We’re sorry for any inconvenience tonight because of the lights.”
“Thanks,” Boone said when the waiter returned the bottle into the sack and set it on the table.
When they finished eating, Boone had the dinners put on his room bill in spite of her protests. They talked about books a few more minutes until he took her hand. “Let’s go to the lounge. I can hear music, and we can dance.”
She inhaled and he saw a flicker of eagerness in her eyes and he knew she was debating whether or not to accept his offer. Still holding her hand, he stood and pushed away his chair. “C’mon, mystery lady. A few dances will be a pleasure. You’re safe with me.”
“I think you’re the biggest danger I’ve encountered in a long, long time,” she said softly.
Two
“That’s progress,” her handsome escort replied. “Knowing I’m dangerous to you just moved me out of ‘fun’ and ‘good’ for the evening.”
Knowing she should say no yet unable to resist, Erin picked up her flashlight and purse and handed him his flashlight. When her fingers brushed his, she drew a sharp breath. The slightest contact with him tonight had been electric. He was irresistible and he knew it and she was certain he had left an abundance of broken hearts strewn in his past. With all her being she was trying to keep a wall between them because there was a volatile chemistry that had sparked to life the first moment she had looked into his blue eyes in the hotel elevator.
He was so incredibly handsome! All evening it had been an effort to keep from staring at him.
In the dark lounge, he led her to a corner table. The place was half filled and a few couples circled the dance floor. Two walls were dark paneling with hunting pictures, mirrors backed the bar and the fourth wall was French doors opening to a terrace. Each table had a candle, and the entire bar was in semidarkness, yet with the candlelight, the room held a cozy atmosphere.
She watched while her new acquaintance ordered glasses of white wine. Golden candlelight flickered over his well-shaped hands. Her gaze drifted up. The yellow candlelight highlighted his prominent cheekbones and threw the hollows of his cheeks into shadows. His sexy, thickly lashed bedroom eyes guaranteed easy conquests and his full lower lip hinted at sensuality.
When she looked at his thick, wavy brown hair that was neatly trimmed above the strong column of his neck, she knew she was openly staring, but he was the handsomest man she had ever known. Only she didn’t really know him and she was wary of his flirting. All her life the only men she had dated were men she had known as friends. She never had blind dates, had never had a flash encounter that resulted in something more.
A short-sleeved navy sport shirt revealed this man’s impressive muscles that indicated he either worked out daily or was into a job that took a lot of physical labor.
She already knew his broad shoulders tapered to a narrow waist and trim hips. The sexy, charismatic man was dangerously appealing.
Unaccustomed to alcohol in any degree, she knew she should stop drinking wine, because she needed her wits to deal with such a heady combination of male sexuality and charm. And she suspected he was intent on seduction.
Her day had been dreadful. When she had flown into town, she had been exhausted and hungry only to be accosted in the hotel parking lot, adding to the miserable day. Encountering her dinner companion in the elevator with his cocky charm had made her smile and relax. All his talk about how gorgeous she was—she was certain he heaped the same compliments on any woman he dated. Still it was nice to be the object of those compliments.
She had wanted to get off the elevator and forget about him, but the man was too handsome to easily erase from memory. And in the elevator there had been sparks of attraction between them. She had felt it and she knew he did, but then, he probably experienced sparks with most of the females he encountered.
The moment she had stepped into the restaurant and spotted him across the room, her pulse had leaped.
Maybe it was the wine, but she felt exhilarated. All her tiredness and worries of the day had evaporated, and she had appeased hunger with a delicious steak dinner.
He stood and held out his hand. “Let’s dance.”
Taking his hand, tingles sizzling from that impersonal contact, she went with him to the dance floor, stepping into his arms and onto dangerous ground. Now she was in his arms, and every nerve in her body quivered. She could detect a tangy aftershave. Her thighs brushed his thighs. She was held lightly against him and she could feel the warmth of his body.
Giddy and breathless, she told herself it was the effects of the wine, but she knew it wasn’t. It was the man.
Dancing was paradise, and her partner was fascinating. How long since she had danced? She couldn’t remember. Probably last Christmas’s barn dance at the Kellogg ranch.
His arm tightened slightly, pulling her closer. They danced together with an ease that surprised her. At five-eight, she usually didn’t have to look up to men she was with, but she did now. He was well over six feet tall.
The next song was a fast number, and he swung into it without asking her. She danced around him, caught in the intensity of his blue-eyed gaze, knowing she enticed him just as he excited her. He caught her and spun her around, leaning over her, and for an instant they were frozen as she clung to him and gazed up into his eyes and saw the longing in their depths.
He swung her up, and they finished the dance and then began a slow dance.
“My head is spinning.”
“It’ll stop spinning with this music. Now it’s slow, deliberate, languid,” he drawled softly, his breath fanning her hair as he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.
She should push against him and step back to keep the dancing as impersonal as possible, but it was heaven to be held in his arms. She closed her eyes to enjoy herself without reservation. She was dancing with the most handsome, appealing man she had ever known. And the sexiest. She didn’t even know his name and they would soon part and never see each other again, but right now she was going to dance and enjoy another hour with him.
How long since she had been on a date and had experienced as much excitement? She knew the answer had to be calculated in years, not days or months. Which made her all the more vulnerable to the man’s magnetism.
He wanted to know her name, and instinctively she realized for her own well-being, she should keep a barrier between them. The wine had been a mistake because she knew her judgment had slipped or she wouldn’t be here, wrapped in his arms, slow dancing with him.
His arms tightened just a fraction, and they were barely moving now.
Why couldn’t one of the locals who wanted to date her have been like this? Excitement bubbled in her, and she kept telling herself to be careful, to resist this charmer whose name she didn’t know.
“I’ve thought of a list of names that might fit you—Laura, Emily, Katherine, Kate, Patricia,” he whispered, his warm breath tickling her ear.
“None of the above,” she answered, leaning away to look up at him. The moment their gazes locked, her heart thudded. He wanted her and he wasn’t hiding it.
“I’ll tell you my name,” he said quietly, and she put her fingers against his mouth to stop him.
“Don’t tell me,” she whispered, intending to be emphatic, but her voice wavered as he kissed her fingers. Her stomach clutched and desire became a low flame inside her.
She sucked in her breath. “No names—remember?”
“I remember and I intend to win our bet.” He took her hand in his again and pulled her close and they danced. She moved with him, her fingers on his shoulder.
“I intend to figure out your name and to take you out again,” he declared.
While her pulse skittered, she leaned away to look up at him. “You don’t know where I live.”
“The world is a small place, and I get around a lot.”
“I’ll bet you do.”
“And for you, a man would be willing to go to the ends of the earth.”
“For a date? I don’t think so.”
He danced to the French doors and opened a door. Outside on the terrace, water ran from downspouts and dripped from the eaves, but the rain had stopped.
“Where are you going?” she asked as cool, damp air enveloped her. When they danced through the door onto the terrace, she felt a light mist.
“Out here where we can be alone,” he said, still dancing with her and closing the door behind them. He waltzed into the shadows.
“I think we’re getting rained on,” she remarked.
“Have you ever been kissed in the rain?”
Her heart pounded as she shook her head. “No, I haven’t.” She met his gaze squarely. She should look away, move away, do a thousand other things besides stand in his arms, but his compelling eyes held her. When his gaze lowered to her mouth, she couldn’t get her breath.
His hand tangled in her hair while his arm tightened around her waist, pulling her closer against him. When he lowered his head, she closed her eyes, wrapping her arm around his neck and turning her mouth up to his.
His tongue touched hers, and then he kissed her deeply. She was hopelessly lost as he leaned over her. Standing on tiptoe and kissing him in return, she wrapped both arms around his neck.
Her heart thudded, drowning out all other sounds. Her world narrowed to his kiss, sensations streaking in her and building a heat low in her body. Stunned by passion and the stormy longing that swamped her, she moved her hips against him and felt his arousal press against her.
A fiery hunger raged, and she ran her fingers over his strong shoulders and slid her hands up to tangle her fingers in his thick hair. Never once in her life had she been swept beyond reason into passion as she was this night.
Lights exploded behind her closed eyelids while she was consumed by longing. What was probably nothing unusual to him was a once-in-a-lifetime happening with her.
His tongue stroked hers, fanning the flames already blazing. Suddenly he leaned away a fraction. With an effort she opened her eyes, and her heart missed beats. His blue eyes blazed with desire until she felt as if she could be devoured merely by a look.
“Who are you, darlin’? I want to know you. What’s your name?”
“Erin,” she replied breathlessly, knowing she was crossing a line. “What’s yours?”
“Boone Devlin,” he answered, leaning down to kiss her again.
As shocked as if ice water had been poured over her, Erin pushed against his chest and stared at him. “Boone Devlin!” she exclaimed.
“You act like you know me,” Boone said, not caring at the moment and tightening his arm around her waist while she pushed harder against his chest.
“You’re Boone Devlin!” she exclaimed again, her eyes widening while she stared at him as if he had just sprouted purple hair.
This time her amazement got through to him and Boone leaned away, frowning. “Yes, I am. Do we know each other? I don’t think we do,” he replied as fast as he asked the question. “I couldn’t have possibly forgotten meeting you.”
“No, we don’t know each other, but we’re going to. I’m Erin Frye.”
“Damn!” he breathed, in turn shocked to learn her identity. “Erin Frye, the manager of the Double T Ranch?” he asked as he stared at her.
She nodded. “You know, we’re getting wet out here, and the mist is thickening. Let’s talk inside.”
Stunned, Boone could only gape at her while all his preconceived notions and imaginings of a tough, older ranch woman shattered into oblivion. “You run the ranch?”
She nodded and held her hand palm upward to feel the rain. “It’s wet out here, Boone.”
He was totally stunned because she was absolutely nothing like he had imagined the manager of his ranch to be. The words the attorney had used to describe her spun through his memory: competent, tough, capable, experienced at ranching, knows horses, reliable, trustworthy. There hadn’t been one word about beauty, or being alluring or exciting.
“If you want to stand in the rain, you go ahead,” Erin said briskly. “I’m getting wet and I’m going in.” Turning, she headed into the hotel, and he came to his senses and caught up with her, taking her arm.
“Let’s adjourn to my suite and have coffee sent up and talk about this,” he said.
As she turned to look at him, he was certain that she was going to say no. “C’mon, Erin. We’re going to have to work together at the Double T, after all,” he urged.
She blinked as if she had never thought of such a possibility and then she nodded.
“Great,” he said, and motioned to a waiter. In minutes they were in the elevator, and Boone had the corked, complimentary bottle of wine in hand.
“I thought you were going to get coffee,” she said, eyeing the wine bottle. “I’ve had more wine tonight than I’ve had in the past two years.”
“We need to celebrate again,” he said, moving close, sliding his arm around her waist. He wanted her more than he could remember ever wanting a woman before. “Erin Frye,” he said in a low voice, and she took a deep breath as her eyelids fluttered.
“I still can’t believe that you’re Boone Devlin,” she whispered. She sounded breathless, and he could see desire in the depths of her green eyes. He leaned down to kiss her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
Erin turned her face up to his. Now he wasn’t a stranger. She knew some of his history. And it was impressive. His years in Special Forces and his daring rescue of John Frates. John Frates had spent hours telling her about the men who’d saved him and how special and capable and brave and intelligent they were. For over the past four years she had been hearing about Boone Devlin, so the man was no stranger. And her caution and resistance crumbled into nothing.
Oblivious of her surroundings, Erin returned his embrace, kissing him while her heart pounded and passion possessed her. Wanting his kisses with an urgency that shook her, she poured her desire into her kisses. She was dimly aware when he walked her backward out of the elevator while he continued to kiss her. She pushed away and looked around the empty hall. “Where are we?”
“Almost to my room,” he said. He took her arm and led her down the hall. Her head was spinning, she was breathless, hot, and wanting to be back in his arms.
He unlocked a door, pushed it open and led her inside, kicking the door shut behind him and pulling her into his arms while he set the wine on a nearby table.
As they kissed, he leaned back against the door. His hand slid over her, stroking her back, sliding down over her bottom and her hips.
She trembled with desire. Holding him, she wanted him desperately. She kissed him, pouring pent-up needs and brand-new longings into her kisses. Unfastening the buttons of his shirt, she caressed his bare chest, tangling her fingers in a thick mat of hair.
He made a growling sound deep in his throat, and she could feel his heart pounding. When he shrugged off his shirt and dropped it, her desire ratcheted another notch. His sculpted chest was muscled, tapering down to a washboard stomach, and the word awesome came into her mind.
While she was consumed by passion, she could see the effect she was having on him. From the first moment, knowing him had been magical. Now to discover he was someone she had been hearing about for years was like being with someone she had known a long time.
As she ran her fingers across his chest, she was only dimly aware of his fingers at the zipper of her dress. In seconds it was gone, falling to the floor with a swish around her ankles. Pushing away her lacy bra, his fingers caressed her breasts, and she moaned, shaking and overcome by his seductive caresses.
“Ah, Erin, you’re beautiful!” he whispered, bending down to take her nipple in his mouth. His tongue circled the taut bud while she tangled her fingers in his hair with one hand and tugged at his belt with the other.
His hands brushed hers and then his trousers fell around his ankles. He kicked off his shoes, peeled away his socks and stepped out of his trousers. He leaned away, discarding his shoes and socks while she ran her hands over his magnificent body.